Friday, August 31, 2012

"Lemon law" to kick in on Sep 1

The
new legislation will provide more options through additional remedies,
such as repair and replacement, and provide greater clarity on the
burden of proof for defective goods.

The lemon law will have a
two-stage recourse framework for consumers. At the first stage,
consumers may ask the seller to replace or repair the defected goods
within a reasonable period of time. But if this isn't possible,
consumers can move on to the next stage, where they can keep the
defected goods and ask for a reduction in price or return them for a
refund.

Currently, the exchange or refund policy can differ
between retailers. Some shops may offer up to seven days to exchange
products, while others have a strict "no refund" policy.

Customers at Swedish furniture giant IKEA have all along been benefiting from its 100-day return policy.

This
means that if customers change their mind on purchases, they can return
the items within 100 days from the date of purchase.

With the lemon law in place, they will now have up to six months to take action on any defective product.

Most customers welcome the lemon law.

One
customer said: "When there was no such law, I would not be bothered to
go back and change (the item), because I am afraid there will be this
and that, a lot more issues. So, now that there is such a law, I will
definitely bring it back to change."

Another commented: "That is
something they do in the US already...And I think it is nice, actually.
It is good for business also because in the end, people would end up
buying more because they know they can always return them."

Others were concerned that some may abuse the law.

One
person said: "What the retailers can do is actually state the terms and
conditions clearly, and maybe state it on the cashier counter and on
the receipts. Everything should be black and white, and have no grey
areas, so that consumers can better know what is a defective product and
they can exchange the product."

Minister of State for Trade and
Industry Teo Ser Luck said: "With the new lemon law, consumers and
retailers now have more options of recourse for defective goods.

"I
encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with the provisions under
the law. At the same time, we also want to ensure that businesses are
not subject to frivolous claims and that limitations and safeguards are
in place."

The government will monitor how smaller retailers adjust to the new law.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) will gather feedback for some three months and work towards closing gaps, if any.

Mr
Teo said: "For smaller retailers, sometimes, it is harder to implement
some of the good, excellent measures of the major retailers because of
cost issue, because of volume, because of the type of products.

"We
will be monitoring the smaller retailers, their responses and how they
manage the process more carefully, because we want to make sure that it
actually enhances the experience for them, it actually helps them in
their business."

Mr Teo added : "It is important to let the law
be implemented and accumulate enough experiences for the retailers as
well as consumers. And then we monitor and see what is the outcome, how
is it done, and then we can figure out what are the gaps to close, if
there are any gaps, and figure out some of the measures or counter
measures, and see how we can help the smaller retailers or even the
consumers go through with the transactions."

To help reduce the
impact on business, Mr Teo encouraged smaller retailers to focus on
building personalised relationships with customers.

To make it
easier for customers to track their purchases, customers of electronics,
furniture and IT retailer Courts, can now access their product purchase
information online, or 'e-receipts' - so they do not have to worry
about losing receipts, which are usually required as proof of purchase.

These 'e-receipts' allow them to easily retrieve vital information such as product purchase dates.

The
MTI and the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) have organised
some 40 seminars and roadshows to brief consumers and retailers on the
new law.

MTI said 15 additional briefing sessions are expected to be held over the next two months.

MTI has also worked with CASE and various trade associations to develop lemon law consumer guides.

These
will explain the consumers' rights under the law, and the limitations
and safeguards against frivolous claims. These guides will be available
at supermarkets, and places like community centres and shopping centres.